Monkton Farleigh Women’s Institute (MFWI) is our village branch of the national organisation, fondly known as the WI.
The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the organisation’s aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK. The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and currently has almost 220,000 members with approximately 30,000 new members joining in 2018. There are approximately 6,300 WIs. The National WI celebrated its Centenary in 2019.
Monkton Farleigh WI is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020 after restarting following World War II.
MFWI meet every month on the third Tuesday in the Monkton Farleigh Village Hall at 7.30 pm. We start with a short business meeting usually followed by a speaker, refreshments and a raffle. There is also a sales table where members are able to bring along books, DVDs or other items for sale.
We have some interesting speakers covering a variety of talks for example, we have learned about 20th Century Bath, Rare and Common British Butterflies and Nick McCamley speaking about ‘Secret Underground Cities’ including the stone mines at Monkton Farleigh.
We try a variety of activities including various crafts, movement, quizzes etc.We enjoy going out for lunch or supper together each month and also have the opportunity to attend county events organized by Wiltshire WI, whose headquarters are in Devizes. We are involved in the Wiltshire WI Skittles League and Whist League.
The Annual National WI Meeting is held at various venues all over the country and we are represented there.
The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, encouraging them to take part in a wide variety of experiences and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.
MFWI welcome guests and anyone interested in coming along would be made most welcome. For further information please contact Jenny Grant -Tel. 01225 859919.